Improvement in planters and cultivators



@will @finit A. QUAnLEs WITHERS, or HOLLY SPRINGS, Mls'sissrrr.

Letters Patent No. 111,101, dated January 17,1871.

lMPRoveMENTIN PLANTERs AND cU-L'rlvA'roRs.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making parl: ofvthe same.

. To all 'whom It/may concern Be it known that 1`, A. QUARLns WITHERS,of Holly Springs', in the county of Marshall and State of Mississippi,have invent-ed an Im provcd'Oombined Planter and Gultivatoxg; and I dohereby declare that thc following is afull and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing making part ofthis specification- Figure l being a top view of the combined plantellVand, cnltivato'r.

l1`ignre2,a side elevation of -the same.

Figure 3a longitudinal vertical section thereof.

Figure 4, a transverse vertical section of the same through the seed-boxor hopper.

` Figure 5,11. view of the under side of the seed-box i or hopper.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all ofV v'the figures.

Aframe, of suitable dimensions, is composed of the side-beams A A,connected by cross-'pieces a a a.

The side-beams are jointed at b b, a little distance from their frontends, as shoujn; the joints being convcuiently formed by metallicstraps, o c, attached by single screws, or bolts, d d,to thev respectiveparts of the divided beams,which abut together closely but withslightly-rounded ends, so that only a limited jointmovement is allowed,yet suiiicicnt for the purpose,

namely, to enable the frame'of the machine to adapt it-l made adjustableup and down, to vary the dept-h of ,the furrow, by means of a key, h,driven into the socket of the t'ootlr behind the Y same, and providedwith projection,z', which fits iutoany one of a set of notches,

jj, in the -rear edge of the tooth, all substantially as represented.

Near the frontend of -the main joint-section of the frame, andinacentral position beneath it, is mounted, in proper bearings, a wheel, C,of peculiar shape, being sharpened and rounded at' its edge orperiphery, as shown most clearly in fig. 1', so that it Arnayrun intheseed-furrow previously opened by the toothzgg-and crush the lnmpsofearth that may fall therein, thereby smoothing the furrow for the betterreception of' the seed to be deposited in it. lhis wheel also assistsFor the latter purpose, there is upon one end of the shaft of the wheela crank, k, which receives 4one end of a connecting-rod, Z, the otherend thereof beingv pivoted to an arm, m5, attached to the end of arockthe middle of ,the seed-box or hopper D.

`The' length ofthe arm m is greater than that of the adj ustable ifdcsired,as to produce as great an extent of vibratory motion of therock-shaft as required for the seed-dropping device now to he described.

The bottom of the hopper D is formed in the arc of a circle concentricwith thc rock-shaft n, all the sides of thc hopper sloping downwardthereto', as shown, so as to direct all the seeds to the concaveloottom, in which is a long narrow opening or slot, o, extendingcrosswise of the are and lengthwise of the machine. The width of thisopening is varied, and adjusted byineans of a sliding plate, p,underneath the bottom of the hopper, and moved by a set-screw, q, asshown iu fig. 5. hopper, by a curved plate, E, which is attached to therock-shaft u by means of two radial arms, r r, projecting from saidrock-shaft. The plate is conformed in shape to the are of the circle inwhich it is moved, by the vibrator-y motion of the rock-shaft; and it isintended to reciprocate lin close proximity to,.thongh not quite incontact with, the concave bottom of the hopper, so that no seeds canescape beneathit. Its width is snicient to cover the whole width of rtheseedopening o'; and it is long enough to cover the whole length of saidopening a-t all times, however great its vibratory movement maybe. Nearits ends are rcspectivel'y two seed-apertures, s s, extending throughits thickness, which is suiicient to contain as many grains of corn orlother seeds as it is required to drop each time into the furrow, thesize or diameter of the apertures also being properly proportioned.

At the termination of each` reciprocating movement of theVsecding-platc'E, one of the seed-apertures s s thereinis brought overthe end of the opening o in the bottom of the hopper, and the seeds droptherefrom through the opening into the furrow.

'.lltus two hills are planted at each revolution of the driving-wheel O,which is made of such a diameteras to locate the hills at the desireddistance apart;

Y The seeediug-plate Efmay be" made removable, and replaceable by othershaving seed-aperturess-s of different capacities; or the apertures maybe adjustable in size.

For distributing fertilizers with the machine, semicircular orequivalent notches, t t, fig. 1, of a size suited to the required amountof the fertilizer to be used, are 'formed in one edge of theseeding-plate, to be employ ed in"connectiou lwith similar notches, fu,u, iig. 5, formed in the edge of the adjustable plate 1r, underl thehopper; `so that when the plate E vmoves forward and shaft, u, which"extends across the machine through crank It, so that it will notrevolve, and is such, made This o venin" 0 is covered on the inside ofthe l e i backw. rd, the two sets of opposite-notchest tu u will let thefertilizer drop through when they coincide in position. 'The adjustmentof the plate p varies the size of the coinciding apertures.

This means may also be employed for plan-ting seeds in drills, or atshort intervals. There may-be also similar notches in the edge of thehopper-bottom, at one side of the seed-opening o, in addition to thosein'the edge of the adj usting-plate 1), for a similarpurposc.

In order to plant corn and .other seeds, and to distribute a fertilizerat the same time, the hopper Dis divided by partiti0us,'v r, placed inthe positions shown by dotted lilies in iig. 3, notched, h0wever,intheir lower edges, so that the ends of the seeding-plate E can vibrateinto the side-compartments formed thereby, as indicated.. Theseedsa1e=`placed in the sidecompartments, and the fertilizer 'in the middlecompartment. The seeds are dropped through theseed- 4apertures s s, andthe fertilizer vis distributed through the side-notches t t of theseeding-pitite. yThus the two operations go on at 'the same time,without one intel-tering with the other.

For planting cotton-seeds,if the seeds have been previously rolled andprepared, the notches t t and u u yin the seeding-plate E, andadjusting-plate 11, are used.

' tending downward from the rockshaft n in diiferent directions, andalong` vthe length of the hopper, substantially as showmgenerally two oueach side of the seeding-plate E, for the purpose of stirring the seedsin the hopper so that they shall notbecome clogged therein, and so thatthey may supply the seed-dropper or distributer uniformly. When theseeding-plate E is removed, the arms rr o', by which it is attached tothe rock-shaft, remain, t'o act as stirrers in the same way.

Thus I produce a universal planter, suited for all kinds of seeds, andfor distributing fertilizers at the same time.

Behind the seed-hopper are two teeth, a: x, for covering the Iseed, andfor cultivating; and behind them is a hinged drag-plate or block, y, forleveling and smoothing the ground.

There are handles,z:, attached to the fra-lne to guide the machine by.With these, and the joint iu the forward part of the frame, theattendant, by bearing down on the handles, can lift the drivingfwheel Cfrom the furrow, and stop the motion ofthe seeding apparatus, at anytime when desired; or can retard the motion thereof so as not todistribute so much seed.

To use the machine fora cnltivator, the opening drill-tooth g, and thedrag-block y, maybe removed;

also the driving-wheel O. The seed-hopper may be removed, or not. Acomplete eultivator is thus formed, without the addition of any parts.

vWhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Lett-ers Patent,is

1. The curved vibratory seed-plate E, constructed, arranged, 'andoperatingin the hopper D, substantially as and for the purposes hereinspecified.

2. The partitions o c dividing the hopper D into compartments, incombination with the vibratoryplate E, for the purpose of distributingfertilizers simultaneously with planting seeds, substantially as hereinspecified. y

Specification signed by me this 28th day of J nly, 1870.

A. QUARLES WITHERS.

Titncsscs D. J. BROWN, J. S. BROWN.

